Sports & Social opens in North Bethesda’s Pike & Rose
Sports & Social, a national chain of sports bars, opened its first Montgomery County location in North Bethesda’s Pike & Rose development on Thursday.
The 7,692-square-foot space is at 11800 Grand Park Ave. — in the former home of Del Frisco’s Grille, which closed in 2019.
Sports & Social offers appetizers such as quesadillas, crab cakes, nachos and wings, burgers, sandwiches and tacos. It also has other entrees, such as salmon, linguine with clams and steak frites.
Most menu items are $10 to $20, although some entrees are $20 to $30.The drink menu at Sports & Social includes draft and bottled beers for $6 to $10, cocktails for $11 to $14 and wines by the glass for $8 to $20.
There are also $9 “crushes,” which typically consist of a mix of fruit juices, soda and vodka and Triple Sec. These beverages are made at a “crush bar” on the outdoor patio. Among the crushes offered is the Orange Crush – a drink well-known throughout Maryland that consists of freshly-squeezed orange juice, triple sec, orange vodka and Sprite.
The Pike & Rose location offers happy hour from 4 to 7 p.m. on weekdays, in which select alcoholic beverages are $5 to $7. Other promotions include “Industry Night” (half-priced beer, spirits and appetizers Monday night), “Taco Tuesday” (discounted tacos) and live music from 6 to 9 p.m. on the outdoor patio.
The bar features complementary games such as foosball and shuffleboard for customers. There are also arcade games that include ski ball and basketball, in which customers load money onto a card.
The North Bethesda Sports & Social differs from some of the chain’s other locations in that it is not in a casino. But online sports betting will be possible, Judy Moore, the senior vice president of marketing for Live! Dining and Entertainment, told Bethesda Beat on Thursday.
Maryland voters approved a ballot measure last year that legalizes sports betting. The enabling legislation was passed by the Maryland General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Larry Hogan this year.
But regulatory barriers have delayed its implementation by several months despite the hope that it would be ready in time for football season this month, Maryland Matters reported in August.
Moore said on Wednesday that once sports betting is in place in the state, customers will be able to wager on games online using the FanDuel Sportsbook application. There won’t be a physical sports book or betting window on site, she said.
“We’re really happy about opening and we’re not uber focused on it,” Moore said of the betting.
Sports & Social features TVs galore, both throughout the dining area and on the outdoor patio. The patio is pet-friendly, Sales and Marketing Manager Jennifer Sullivan said on Wednesday.
The Pike & Rose bar will show Washington Football Team and Baltimore Ravens games when those teams are in action. Multiple games from multiple sports will be shown each night, and customers can check the bar’s social media pages each day for which games are being shown, Moore said.
Sullivan emphasized that Sports & Social “isn’t just for sports.”
“This is a place you’re gonna want to come to on date night, happy hour, girls’ night … so, we do want to kind of cater to that, as well,” she said.
The Pike & Rose location is hiring for multiple positions, according to landlord Federal Realty Investment Trust.
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